Live the Bhāgavatam · SB 10.38.17
Īśānukathā· The Lord and His devoteesThe Tenderness of Kṛṣṇa’s Lotus Hand
“By offering charity to that lotus hand, Purandara and Bali earned the status of Indra, King of heaven, and during the pleasure pastimes of the rāsa dance, when the Lord wiped away the gopīs’ perspiration and removed their fatigue, the touch of their faces made that hand as fragrant as a sweet flower.”
What the purport teaches
- By offering charity to the Lord’s lotus hand, Purandara and Bali earned the status of Indra, King of heaven.
- During the rāsa dance, Kṛṣṇa wiped away the gopīs’ perspiration and relieved their fatigue.
- Contact with the gopīs’ faces made His hand fragrant like the saugandhika lotus found in Mānasa-sarovara Lake.
Try this today
Spend a quiet minute remembering Kṛṣṇa’s lotus hand relieving the gopīs’ fatigue.
Ask yourself
What does Kṛṣṇa’s care for the gopīs reveal to me about His tenderness?
Carry the question through the day, then answer it in your own words before sleep.
From Canto 10, chapter 14 onward, the translation and purports were completed by Śrīla Prabhupāda's disciples after his departure, and published by the Bhaktivedanta Book Trust.